Magnetism and orbital ordering in La7/8Sr1/8MnO3

Muon relaxation techniques have been used to investigate the spin dynamics and magnetic transitions of the La7/8Sr1/8MnO3 manganite. Competing orbital states cause changes in the ferromagnetic coupling strength and mechanism. The data suggest that diffusive magnetic polarons compete with the particular orbital ordering of the Jahn-Teller distorted phase ill the temperature interval 0.8 < T/T-C < 1.1. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.